Faults:

Timing belt and water pump, shocks, exhaust, brakes, battery, various sensors, wheel bearings, clutch starting to judder, etc.

Doors a bit stiff, and there is rust here and there. Bonnet jammed. Mostly all wear and tear, it is an older car now. Never any major faults or break downs though.

General Comments:

Last of the first generation Focus on an 04 reg, my dark red saloon model is something of a rarity. Most are hatchbacks. It has been a great little car for the long time I have had it.

Ghia model is very well equipped. Nice seats and electric everything. Interior quality is good. Seats are comfortable. Driving position is good.

Nice looking car with alloy wheels. Boot space is good enough.

Pretty refined and smooth to drive. 1.6 petrol engine could do with better performance and economy though - it struggles to overtake sometimes, and you only get 35 - 40 mpg at very best.

To finish I would say it has been a good car. Considering the age and mileage it won't last forever, but I am happy to keep it going for now.

Faults:

Since replacing the water pump and cambelt, the new water pump leaks slightly. Not really the car's fault, just a substandard aftermarket part. As coolant loss is so small it isn't worth the hassle of removing the cambelt to fix it.

Needed a new battery.

Idle speed a bit low, leading to vibration on tickover especially when the air-con is on.

Reliability has been very good in general despite the car's age and advanced mileage; even the original heated front screen still works.

At 12 years old the car has minimal corrosion, which proves to me the Mk1 Focus is much less rot prone than many other Fords of the same era.

General Comments:

Has been a great car with just trivial faults or typical wear and tear items like tyres and brakes. If I can fault anything with it, it's that the 1.6 engine is a tad underpowered. This combined with tall gearing makes the car struggle at motorway speeds. If there is any type of incline, the car will not maintain 70mph without changing down into 4th gear. Also struggles with hills on normal roads, especially if loaded up. Overtaking slower traffic also takes careful planning.

I cannot fault the ride and handling though, and fuel economy is generally pretty good.

I would have another, but it would have to be a bigger engine model.

Faults:

Fuel injectors needed replacing at 90k, which cost over £1000.

Clutch went at 93k, costing over £600.

I put petrol in the diesel engine by accident at 95k and drove it 10 miles. Had the engine drained with no further issues.

General Comments:

I bought this car on the strength of the recommendations of several people who I shall not be listening to again.

Good Points:

* The car is quite fast, in a straight line.

* The CD player is OK.

* It looks quite sporty.

* Good on the motorway.

Bad Points:

* Noisy

* The drivers seat is too high up - even when wound down to the lowest level.

* The power steering is awful and has an unsettling 'elastic' feel to it.

* The cabin takes ages to warm up.

* Fuel economy is not great, although I do drive it quite hard.

* Stalls easily.

* Hates being driven slow. Don't even try to get out of 3rd gear unless doing more than 30mph.

* Poor clutch design means expensive clutch parts.

* Expensive fuel injectors.